my thoughts

The result of one the most sought after competitive examination for admission to the premiere engineering institute has been declared and as always the newspapers are full of the advertisement related to the claims made by different institutes for maximum selection of the students from their center. It has also been noticed that the same child has been claimed by more than one institute for different reasons.The children who have made their way to the merit list should be congratulated and others who could not do that well should not be discouraged because there have been incidents reported in the past also that many of those who did not qualify, went into depression which should not be allowed to happen.  The result of class X of different boards shall be declared soon  and many students (some have already joined so called specialised institutes) will leave the schools which have helped them to become better human beings and they will join in the race of one point progra...

The newspapers reports give you a lot to think everyday and that is why despite the onslaught of electronic media, the print media has not lost its importance. Why is print media more effective( some of my friends may not agree with this statement) shall be discussed on some other and today I shall focus one of the important issues which is so close to my heart and the issue is how do you measure success and is success relative or absolute? What I have understood  is that nothing is absolute in this world and all things are relative.Take the case of the colour of the skin of the people in comparison to different regions and the countries. The Indians are said to be dark in comparison to the Britishers whereas they are considered to be fair in comparison to Africans.You may cite many such examples in different areas of life. In a particular school, a child with sixty percent marks can be the topper whereas in the other school a child with eig...

A newspaper report made me to think more seriously about a topic which was playing in my mind for the last few days. The report says that the training programme for the the teachers which is being conducted for the benefit of the teachers of Rajasthan board schools lacks in facilities and the teachers have raised the problem in front of the competent authorities. The news further says that in this hot summer there is no facility of coolers and the refreshment is also of the poor quality.On one hand, the government is trying to improve the quality of teachers by asking them to qualify eligibility test and on the other hand the basic amenities required are lacking. This raised another issue that the government plans so many schemes for the improvement of not only the education but also the living standard of  economically backward people of the country. Another newspaper report speaks about the implementation of different schemes which are meant for the benefit of the citi...

While going through the book by William Powell and Ochan Kusuma Powell titled "Becoming an emotionally Intelligent teacher", I realised that this book is not only worth reading by the practicing teachers and aspiring teachers  but also for all who matter to a child ,be it a parent or anybody else. Till the last few years IQ was considered to be the real measure of an individuals capabilities which might place that person above the other one. But it was also found that a person with higher IQ level was not necessarily better than the other while performing some task or managing people. The concept of EQ is not very old but it has grown very fast and many people consider it a better way of measuring the capability of the person to do things in an effective manner. A person with better EQ has more balanced personality than the others.I dedicate this article to Mr.Powell who has been instrumental in making me learn more about emotionally intelligent people.Somebody very rightly s...

Our country has progressed in almost all fields in the last sixty four years. The nation is expected to be among the super- powers of the world in the next ten- fifteen years and it gives lot of satisfaction to the citizens of the country and they take pride in it. The progress made in the past and the optimism that the country shall do well in future is true, but if things are analysed properly then we are left to introspect seriously of the problems which do not allow a fast paced progress as the country is capable of. I feel that in the race of acquiring materialistic things we forgot one important aspect of the life of the people which could have been one reason of slow progress and that is the lack of national character. It may sound negative to some people who always look at positives only, but the area which is hindering our pace of progress should not be ignored. Character building is a very important aspect of an individuals personality development process. If the national cha...

The report in the newspaper early in the morning once again made me to think about the level of stress our children and youth are exposed to. A girl student tried to end her life because , as per the report, she had not performed well in one of the papers. I am unable to understand about the real cause of such incidents which are not in isolation now-a-days.This girl would have been a good student and as a result of that got admission in of the good engineering college.Then what made her to be so stressed? Is it the external pressure of always performing well or pressure created by self? Or is it that our children are not prepared to take the failure or achieve less than anybody else? These are the questions which everyone should ask to self and others and find an answer to it and based on that, take corrective measures. Now when even the students of colleges and universities have started taking these extreme steps,  then will the government think of having no exams in these i...

We all know it well that time and tide waits for none and once over, the same time does not come back.Every living being has been granted a fixed duration of life on this planet and no body is sure of what happens after that.There are many things important in life but to be successful punctuality is one of the most important factors which, we Indians value the least. Now a days, it is the season of marriages and many people attend one or the other function related to marriage. It happens so many times that  the guests reach on time given in the invitation cards and the host is nowhere in the sight. The guests either keep waiting or go back and may or may not come back to attend the function. It reminds me of the recently held marriage ceremony of prince Williams in which the guest were requested to reach the places of the function and the hosts were also equally punctual during all rituals. It shows that they value the time. There may be many factors for not starting...

Education is one tool which can help a lot in making the life of the people better. In the past, we heard and read  that man needs to fulfill only his basic necessities of bread, clothes and a house but in the present, the expectations and the living standards of the people have gone up. Now whether this is for good or bad , it is there to be and we have to face this reality.At the same time, it is important to understand what is quality life? To me quality life is a life lead by a person wherein he is able to explore his potential and exploit it to the fullest for the benefit of self and others as well. This will include availability of the bare minimum necessity met by all and no one in the society is deprived of the three basic things mentioned above.Quality life should not be taken as to own a big houses ,costly clothes and the multi- cuisine meals but the person should have enough to survive without any problem. If the people get nutritious food and even on...

I asked a simple question to my colleagues and many of them responded with a lot of enthusiasm and the question was, from whom do we learn the most ? The question seemed to be simple but gave an opportunity to everyone to express what they felt to be an appropriate answer on their part. Some said they learn the most from mother, some learn  from the peer group, others were of the opinion that they learnt from their parents and the children . Many felt that their family contributed most in their learning. As they all are teachers so many told that they learn the most from their students. One or two said that the circumstances taught them a lot indirectly and there were many more answers like, one learns from his /her own mistakes.To me all answers were correct but the last answer was very close to my own feelings that we learn the most from our own experience with self and the other people we come in close contact with. Though I did not want to test anybody`s knowledge but the idea...

Everyone acts and reacts differently in different situations which is very natural and is expected accordingly.  Different approach may not be the problem but extreme approach will always be a serious concern.If there is no balance in the life then it will not be an enjoyable experience for those people but at the same time extremes can not be ruled out.These extremes only force people to react and do things just opposite to what prevails today.There was a time when untouchability was so much in the society that a section of the people found themselves unwanted. The father of the nation made people aware and helped in fighting against the menace of untouchability. Though this has not been completely eroded but has come down substantially. These people who were not allowed to take part in different customs fought against it and now even others have accepted them as respectable human beings. In this case also it has been observed that some of them misuse the rights given to them...

Whenever the word leader or leadership is spoken people tend to relate it either with the politicians or the person on higher positions in an organisation.This is correct but what many people feel is that every person is leader in one or the other situation and that is why it becomes very important to understand the leadership qualities because the decision of the leader can make or mar the future of  many people. When I say that everyone is a leader in one or the other situation, that will be clear by some day to day examples. The leaders are the ones who lead other people or take a decision not for self but for the family, society, any organisation or the country. The prime minister of the country is one important example but at the same time everyone of us takes one or the other decision everyday which affect many people. Take the case of support staff in an organisation, that person may be at the lowest position in hierarchy but takes decisions which may not be noticed by ...

It is a known fact that no two individuals can be same but we still compare two children against each other at home and also in the school.You will find the children with different IQ and EQ level and they behave accordingly. Some children react to very small things said or done to them and there are many others whose reaction will be very mild or sometimes no reaction at all.The teachers and the parents must try to understand the child and the reason behind a particular reaction. No child should be condemned and made to feel inferior to the other children. Praising a child for some achievement is good but at times too much of praise might have negative impact on other children and also on the child being praised. A child had been doing very well up to class fifth or sixth and then all of a sudden parents realised that the child had become quiet and was showing the signs of withdrawal  and was not willing to go to school. The parents try their level best but no results. Then they ...

There are many channels which air the programmes related to spirituality and spread teachings of the great saints from all religions. Those who watch such channels will agree that all the topics discussed may not give us lessons on virtues but most of the topics teach all, the right path and the human values.These channels are becoming popular day by day.Why is it so that despite the present era being termed as materialistic age, then also many people are watching and reading the material related to peace and value? Many people rightly say that this curiosity has always been in the nature of human being but that was over powered by the shine of wealth and worldly things. In all the teachings either by the saints or incarnations of God, control on emotions has been taught. To have emotions and also to express them at the right time is very important. In today`s world when everybody is focused more on the self achievement in terms of money or the position, the emotional intelligence...

We have been listening and reading that man is a social animal and it means that man always wants to be in the company of the people . Sometimes I wonder why is it said only for man because even the animals also live as a group and follow certain unwritten rules and regulations? They also express their feelings and emotions as man does. The only difference is in the thinking which in case of humans is new and different and also in speech.Human race has undergone many changes in the past and the same will continue in future also. If a country or an organisation has to progress then it is very important that there is team work among the people. Though they may think differently but the common objective should be same. Individual thinking and input is important but working as team is most important. It has been observed that an organisation may have excellent brains but, if there is no co-ordination among the people then the results are not as good as expected.For example, take the c...

All India Engineering Entrance Examination conducted on first May 2011 proved to be a nightmare for more than eleven lakh children who had worked very hard for this exam for about two years. Nobody expected what had happened yesterday, in their dreams also. Despite the best possible efforts made and all possible precautions taken by the examination conducting body to conduct the examination in a fair manner, this problem emerged and the children, their parents and also the examination centres had a tough time. Though it is good that the examination could be conducted for most of the students on the same day but there was a lot of confusion in the mind of the parents and the children.The stress caused by all this must have had an impact on the performance of the children because it was dry heat with temperature soaring to more than 45degrees and the candidates were exposed to extreme conditions.Even those children who were to appear in second paper got only one hour in between...